ABBATravel: Rome - To Eat 16&17May2015 (Da Enzo, La Cabana, Roma Sparita)

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Rome - To Eat 16&17May2015 (Da Enzo, La Cabana, Roma Sparita)

Rome - To Stay
Rome - To Do
Rome - To Eat

Rome - To Eat
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Da Enzo

A simple rustic menu.
Click here for ABBA location of Da Enzo Al 29 Sas Di Di Felice Roberto & C., Via dei Vascellari, 29, Roma RM, Italy
Like many dining joints in Italy, some of the best are tucked in small allies. This was no exception. With a small seating capacity of 20-30, this place was quickly packed at its opening and a queue ensuing there after. The scene was no different when walking past the same place the next day to Roma Sparita a little further down (reviewed below)

Ordered On:
16May2015

Bread and Olive Oil €2.50

Defiantly quality olive oil. A thick, beautiful golden color with a nice deep, slight spice after taste.

Carciofo Alla Giudia €4
Deep fried whole globe artichoke

An interesting dish, perfectly fried and the artichokes petals tasting like delicious crispy potato chips. A really good and assuming seasonal dish. (This was the best artichoke had during this trip's exploration)
Ricotta D.O.P Laziale €5

Fresh ricotta cheese made with local Latium sheep milk, served with artisanal jam.

No overly strong cheese flavors here, but a light, subtle, creamy texture and taste. A perfect, salt and sweet pairing with the well balanced jam.
Matriciana O Amatriciana €9

Rigatoni pasta with guanciale (type of bacon made out of pork jowl) from Amatrice, pecorino cheese and tomato sauce.
Carbonara €9.00

Percorino Cheese, organic eggs from San Bartolomeo farm and black pepper.

Gircia €9
Rigatori pasta with P.G.I (protected geographic indication) guanciale from Amatrice and P.D.O (protected destination of origin) pecorino cheese from Agro Romano and Black Peoper

Cacio E Pepe €11

Tonnarelli (handmade pasta of our production made with organic Mulino Mario flours. Percorino cheese from Sgro Romano and black pepper.

Appetizers were, hands down, phenomenally good and a great teaser of things to come. Unfortunately that was all that it was on this trip, a tease.

I'd recommend the tomato based pastas as they aren't that 'heavy'. The Cacio E Pepe was way too heavy handed on the black pepper to the point it couldn't be finished. Further more, the other cream dishes were overly heavy handed on the salt. Although, with that said, the salt, fried pork bits were amazing good, unfortunately the salt on salt did not aid it.

Total: €67.50 Fed 5
with half a bottle of wine and a bottle of water ordered.

Overall, an off the beaten track from the norm. A place where locals go to have their meals. Top scoring appetizers but pasta falling short due mainly to overly heavy-handed seasoning.

I wouldn't completely write off this place. Possibly upon request for staff to be light handed on seasoning, then this would be a cheap and a very good pasta joint to go to. Their desserts in the windows look good as well, but we were unfortunately turned off after the lack luster mains. Again I stress that the large portion of the blame to dishes being too salty. I'd return here to try the dishes and desserts again but being clear on a much needed reduction of salt in the dish.

Click here for ABBA location of Da Enzo Al 29 Sas Di Di Felice Roberto & C., Via dei Vascellari, 29, Roma RM, Italy

La Cabana
(700m from Pickup/drop off point)

Click here for ABBA loction of Ristorante La Cabana, Via del Mancino, 7/9, 00187 Roma, Italy

*From where they get their seafood from*

La Cabana is a pleasant pasta joint located in an alley just off of the main walking/shopping street.

Ordered On:
16May2015
Fried Zuchinni flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies (each) €3x2

A classic pairing of cheese and Zucchini flower, but never before with anchovies. It gives that unique slaty pop and it was a crowd pleaser.

Fillet Minion €18

Cooked over a wood flame grill, it had a good char and done the perfect medium rare.

Aglio olio €11

Tomato Based seafood pasta with mussels, clams, shrimp/salmon. €13/14

Tiramisu €6

Total Fed4 : €71

The pastas were all done to a pretty good standard. Done Al Dante and balanced just right. Not overly salty and staff were happy to cater to our request of pasta options and change of seafood ingredients. The only draw back would probably be that they were quite restrained on the ingredients.

Overall, a good pasta joint. The place serves up decent appetizers, good mains and average dessert in a nice environment. A little more pricey then Da Enzo (located in the local part of town, reviewed above), but pasta here are seasoned much better.

Click here for ABBA loction of Ristorante La Cabana, Via del Mancino, 7/9, 00187 Roma, Italy

Roma Sparita
(1km from Pickup/drop off point)

Click here for ABBA location of Roma Sparita, Piazza di Santa Cecilia, 24, 00153 Roma, Italy

Located away from the tourist side of town, lays home to a quaint dining location located in front of a quadrangle and by a church.

Anthony Bourdain on Cacio e Pepe(2:50Mark) at Roma Sparita

Ordered On:

10Oct2016

Beef with aragula salad

*Cured meets and fresh vegetables can't go wrong*

Fried Zucchini

*A little too heavy on the batter, but it's alright.*
Gnocchi with clams and zucchini flowers €12

*Clams are a little small and the gnocchi ought to have been finished off on the pan to give it some color and caramelization. In Chinese terms, it is missing the wok-heh (taste of the char) flavor*
Fettuccine with porcini mushrooms €12

*It's okay. Could be more a little more mushroomy on the flavor. The home made pasta are very starchy and heavy, but with a drizzling of the olive oil table side helps cut the heaviness and brings a lightness and fruitiness to the dish.*
Cacio e Pepe €13

*Too 'heavy' for two person to be had. Still the signature dish, but probably for the
cheese fans. After a year not having had it, the review is the same. Nice but heavy! Relooking at the review from last year, the heavy handed black pepper wasn't really evident.*
Ravioli filled of Ricotta and spinach €10

*Pretty nice. The tomato sauce is a little tart, but as the flavors come together, it is pretty good.*
€16per pax. Fed 6

Still cheaper than eating at the touristy places, however this time around, staff seem to be hard selling their seasonal dishes. The nature of the pastas here are very starchy and heavy. Best is for creamy or starchy dishes to be shared amongst 2 guys or three girls.

Not as wow and experience as the first time going, but here you won't be charged the tourist prices. In my opinion its still worth a visit to try out the unique take of the Pepe for cheese lovers but remember to order one for the share. The rest are okay. Go for what you want rather than be pressured by wait staff to push for their own dishes.

Ordered on:

16May2015

Taglioni Cacio e Pepe (Thin noodles with cheese and pepper) €12

This is the dish that is synonymous with Rome. Hand-made pasta noodles with black pepper. We did request for less pepper out of fear of heavy handed spicing. Served atop a cheesy cream sauce, in a crispy cheese basket, this truly was the dish to come back for. Amazing flavor and fresh pasta were all that starchy. The only draw back would probably be that, the cheese on cheese on cheese, does get a little rich towards the end of the dish, but that couldn't stop anyone for finishing it all.

Seafood Pasta €15

Cooked well with a generous spread of seafood.

Mussles €18

They definitely give you your weight in mussels. You'd suspect that after clearing the top layer of shell fish there'd be none left but one would be gladly mistaken. Again the down side was the overly salty broth, leaving one to believe the mussels were boiled in seawater. The broth though delicious was way to salty but taken with bread, a little more passable. Mussels were good but overly salty broth hurt the dish a bit.
Tiramisu

Tiramisu to me was a little too watered down. Their ladies fingers were soggy and drenched in diluted coffee. However, the other two found it quite pleasant.

Cheese Cake

It was a first time for all parties to having a warm cheese cake. Unique and interesting-good was the verdict. Crumbly, warm cheese cake made with ricotta cheese! Worth the order.